Container and closure therefor



April 19, 1966 J SCHARF ETAL 3,246,784

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed May 14, 1964 INVENTORS 7/2/50 J Ior/s fee) 27566440 United States Patent 3,246,784 CONTAINER AND CLOSURETHEREFGR Jerry F. Scharf, Havertown, Pa., and Vinson S. Potts,

Cherry Hill, N.J., assignors to Crown Qork & Seal Company, Inc.,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New York Filed May 14, 1964, Ser.No. 367,434 12 Claims. (Cl. 215-46) The present invention relates to animproved container and closure and, more particularly, to an improvedcontainer and closure therefor capable of use in packaging liquids suchas carbonated beverages and beer under pressure.

Heretofore in containers such as bottles or cans having a neck, a lip atthe mouth of the neck and a bead around the neck immediately below thelip, metallic closures having liners have been used to seal the samewhen packaging liquids under pressure, for example, carbonated beveragesor beer. The closures have been either crowns or shell shaped structureshaving a top Wall and a cylindrical side wall, the cylindrical side wallbeing rolled into engagement with the bead of the container. Many priorefforts have been made to provide a closure for such containers wherethe product is under pressure, the closure being removable without theuse of special bottle openers, coins or the like. However, such priorefforts have not proved entirely satisfactory because of leakage orbecause the closure was too expensive to make. Also, the use of closureshaving pull tabs thereon has heretofore been known but such priorefforts have been limited to the packaging of liquids or materials whichwere not under pressure as they did not have the necessary sealingpower.

Throughout the specification and claims the container is often referredto by the term bottle and it is intended that such a term covers eitherglass or plastic containers or metallic containers which are sometimesreferred to as cone type cans. In any event the term bottle covers anycontainer of the type provided with a neck portion, a lip and a beadaround the neck portion for receiving a closure such as a crown or arolled on shell structure.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved type ofclosure for use with a bottle in packaging products under pressure, theclosure being provided with a pull tab so that it is capable of removalwithout the necessity of special instruments such as a bottle opener orthe like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a three piececlosure for bottles having means for removing the outer shell, the threepiece closure having improved sealing ability even though the outershell of the same is provided with incisions therethrough for use inremoving the same.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedclosure or cap made of three pieces and having an outer shell providedwith a pull tab, the outer shell further being provided with means toassist the removal of the same after the pull tab has been operated tosever the side wall of the shell.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide animproved closure and bottle therefor which is capable of packagingproducts under pressure.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide animproved and novel bottle structure having a mouth portion capable ofreceiving either a shell type cap which is rolled thereon or a crowntype cap which is crimped, the bottle mouth configuration being suchthat it provides better sealing ability between the closure and thebottle as well as a stronger holding ability of the closure on thebottle.

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Ancillary to the preceding objects it is a further object of the presentinvention to provide an improved closure for a bottle having an improvedmouth profile or configuration, the closure having a pull tab thereon sothat it is capable of removal from the bottle without the necessity ofauxiliary opening devices.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willappear more fully in the following specification, appended claims, anddrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an improved bottle with the improvedclosure mounted thereon, the view illustrating in broken lines the pulltab for the closure being operated and further the shell or skirt of theclosure being pivoted open;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded inverted view of the three piece closure of thepresent invention, the parts being in their static form prior to theirapplication as a closure on a container;

FIGURE 3 is a top elevational view of the shell structure for theclosure of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through theimproved closure and the mouth of the improved bottle of the presentinvention, the view illustrating the closure being applied to theimproved bottle; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sec tional view similar toFIGURE 4 but illustrating the closure applied to the bottle and rolledunder the bead on the neck of the bottle.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like characters or referencenumerals refer to like or similar parts, the closure of the presentinvention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and is applied to animproved bottle of the present invention generally designated by thenumeral 12. The bottle 12 as pointed out heretofore may be a glass orplastic container. Also, it may be a metallic container of the typecommonly referred to as a cone type can. The body (not shown) of thebottle may assume any shape, the bottle 12 being provided with a neck 14having at its upper end an outwardly facing lip 16 and further beingprovided with a head 18 around the neck 14 immediately below the lip 16.A more detailed description of the configuration of neck 14, lip 16 andbead 18 of the improved bottle 12 will follow later in the specificationafter a detailed description of the closure 10.

The closure or cap 10 includes three elements, namely, an aluminum shellstructure 20, a metallic disc 22 and a sealing liner 24 preferably madeof a plastisol or the like. The plastisol liner 24 is very flexible andmay be made, for example, of the material disclosed in US. Patent3,047,176 issued July 31, 1962, to Bible A. Wilckens and assigned to thesame assignee as the instant application. Also, the plastisol liner 24may have the same configuration as disclosed in the aforementionedpatent in that it is provided with a relatively thin web portion 26having a downwardly curved peripheral edge portion 28 with an annulardownwardly depending boss portion 30 spaced inwardly of the curved edgeportion 24, and having a diameter suitable to engage the lip 16 of thecontainer 12 on which it is being used. The curved peripheral edgeportion 28 is curved in the same direction as the boss portion 30thereby providing an annular channel or groove 32 therebetween whichprovides room for the expansion or cold flow of the boss when theclosure 10 is capped onto the bottle under the usual pressure.

The shell structure 20, as mentioned before, is made of soft aluminumand has a cross-sectional thickness of .008 to .009 inch and,consequently, such a shell structure is relatively flexible whencompared with a shell structure or a conventional crown closure made ofsteel. In more detail, the shell structure 20 has a relatively flat topwall 34 and a cylindrical side wall 36 connected to the periphery of thetop wall 34 by means of a curved portion 38. The curved portion 38 hasan inside radius of curvature of approximately ,4 of an inch.

Provided in and forming a part of the top wall 34 of aluminum shellstructure 20 is a pull tab 40 which is used for opening the container10. The pull tab 40 is provided in the top wall 34 by an arcuateincision or cut 42 completely therethrough, the arcuate incision 42being greater than a semicircular are but less than a full circle, and apair of parallel incisions or cuts 44 and 46 therethrough providingcontinuous extensions from the ends of the arcuate incision 42. Theparallel incisions 44 and 46 extend outwardly in the plane of the topwall 34 toward but terminate short of the cylindrical side wall 36. Thetop wall 34 on the portion thereof outwardly of the arcuate incision 42is provided with a radial incision or cut 48 completely therethroughintersecting the arcuate incision 42 at a point on its arc midwaybetween its ends, the radial incision or cut 48 extending therefromradially outwardly toward the periphery of the top wall 34 butterminating short of curved edge portion 38 and the cylindrical sidewall 36. As mentioned above, all of the incisions or cuts in the topwall, namely, the incisions 42, 44, 46 and 48, are completely throughthe thickness of the aluminum shell structure 20 as clearly evident inFIG- URES 4 and 5.

In order to stiffen the pull tab 40 over that of the other portions ofthe shell structure 20, so as to enhance its utility when being used toopen a bottle, an annular reinforcing rib or bead 50 is provided aroundthe periphery of the tab adjacent the ancuate incision 42 and across theportion of the tab between the inner ends of the incisions 44 and 46.The rib 50 may be provided by a pressing or embossing action when theshell structure 20 is formed either before or after the incisions aremade therein. Preferably, the annular reinforcing rib 50 is formed priorto cutting the incisions in the top wall of the shell structure 20 so asnot to provide too big an opening between the portion of the top walloutside of the tab 40 and the tab itself. A second reinforcing rib orhead 51 of smaller diameter than the rib 50 may be provided on the tab40 concentrically inwardly of the rib 50.

The metallic disc 22 is provided with a downwardly curved peripheraledge portion 52, the edge portion 52 having a radius of curvaturegreater than the radius of curvature of the curved portion 38 betweenthe top wall 34 and the cylindrical side wall 36 of the shell structure20. The metallic disc 22 is preferably made of stainless steel having across-sectional thickness of .006 inch, but it may be also made ofaluminum or other metal. However, since the closure is primarilyintended for use in bottling carbonated beverages and beer, the metallicdisc 22 is stiffer than the aluminum shell structure 20 as it provides astiffened backing for the sealing liner 24. The metallic disc 22 may becoated with shellac or other adhesive so that when the shell structure20, disc 22 and plastisol sealing liner 24 are assembled prior tocapping, they can be adhered to one another in the usual manner. On theother hand, the closure 10 may be assembled With the three elements 20,22 and 24 loose with respect to one another and oftentimes this makesthe removal of the shell 20 and the opening of the bottle 12 easierafter the capping operation without impairing the efiiciency of theclosure.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 4 and it will be noted that thebottle 12, which is provided with the usual neck 14, has a monthincluding the lip 16 and the bead 18 immediately below the lip andsurrounding the upper portion of the neck. The novel and improvedconfiguration of the mouth of the bottle 12 provides for efficient, andtighter sealing of a closure made of aluminum, the closure being eitherthe conventional crown type of closure having a side wall or skirt whichis corrugated or fluted, or a closure of the type in which the capincludes an aluminum shell having a side wall or skirt which iscylindrical in shape and rolled onto the mouth of the bottle.Additionally, the design of the configuration of the mouth of the bottleenhances the use of closures having a pull tab with severed incisions orcuts in the top wall of the same, as it permits holding of the shell ofsuch closures tightly so as to maintain the backing disc for the linerin proper position with sufficient pressure to provide a good seal for aproduct packaged under pressure.

In more detail, lip 16 has an annular planar upwardly facing surfacewhich is arranged to engage the liner of a closure. The head 18 has afirst outwardly and downwardly curved surface 54 which is tangential tothe annular upwardly facing surface of the lip 16, the curved surface 54having a radius of curvature in the order of A of an inch. As will benoted, the radius of curvature of the curved surface or wall portion 54is substantially identical to the radius of curvature of the portion ofthe closure 10 connecting the side wall or skirt 36 with the top wall34. A first frusto-conical wall portion 56 extends downwardly andoutwardly from the lower edge of the curved portion 54, its connectionwith the lower edge of the curved portion 54 being substantiallytangential. The frusto-conical wall portion 56 of' bead 18 has an anglewith a vertical in the order of four degrees, the lower edge or base 58of the frusto-conical wall portion 56 being connected to a second butinwardly curved surface or wall portion 60 having a radius in the orderof of an inch. The second curved portion-60 which is substan tiallytangential with the frusto-conical wall' portion 56 at the base of thesame, has its other end connected to a second but invertedfrusto-conical wall portion 62. The second frusto-conical' wall portion62 which extends downwardly and inwardly has an angle to a horizontal inthe order of 15 degrees. A third curved surface or wall portion 64provides a smooth continuation of the exterior wall surface of the bead18 into the neck 14. However, it will be appreciated that if the bottleis a cone type metallic can, the third curved portion 64 will not benecessary. In all probability, a reversed curved edge portion will beused, the reversed curved edge portion defining a small annularstiffening bead for the main bead. As is evident from FIGURE 4, themaximum diameter of the bead 18 at the base of the first frusto-conicalwall portion 56 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of thecylindrical side wall 36 of aluminum shell 20.

The operation of the structure shown in FIGURES 1-5 inclusive may bedescribed briefly as follows: The closure 10 is formed by assembling thealuminum shell structure 20, the metallic disc 22, and the plastisolliner 24 so that the metallic disc 22 is interposed between the insideof the top wall 34 of the shell 20' and the sealing liner 24. If theseelements or parts are assembled without adhering of the elements to oneanother they will assume the position shown in FIGURE 4. On the otherhand, if the three elements of the cap or closure 10 are adhered to oneanother then the upper surface of the metallic disc 22 will becontiguous with the inner surface of upper wall 34 of the shell 20, theupper surface of the sealing liner 24 being contiguous with the lowersurface of the metallic disc 22. In this latter form of assembly of thecap structure, the peripheral curved or rolled edge 52 of the metallicdisc will be further curved to the same curvature as that of the curvededge portion 38 for the shell 20 by a suitable pressing operation and,thus, will have proper sealing and frictional contact with the shell 20in addition to being adhered thereto.

Once the cap or closure 10 has been assembled in either of the mannersdescribed above and it is desired to close a bottle, the closure 10 ispressed over the mouth of the bottle 12 and with its skirt or side wall36 depending downwardly about the bead 18 as shown in FIGURE 4. By asuitable rolling and downwardly pressing operation the lower free edge66 of side wall 36 is stretched around the curved wall portion 60 andonto the frusto-conical Wall portion 62 of the bead 18. Since the shell20 of the cap is made of aluminum and is rolled and pressed downwardlyand formed about the bead, the major'portion of the cylindrical wall 36of the shell is also stretched and form fitted to the frusto-conicalportion 56 of'the bead 18 so that it too assumes a frusto-conical shapein that portion which is contiguous with the frustoconical wall portion56. As pressure is applied to the cap 10, the boss 30 of the liner 24coacts with the planar upwardly facing surface of lip 16' and expands orcold flows into the channel 32, thus, forming a very effective sealacross the entire planar surface of the lip 16. The downwardly curvedportion 28 of liner 24 fits tightly against the curved portion 54 ofbead 18 as shown in FIGURE 5.

Once a cap 10 has been applied to the bottle 12 and it is desired toopen the same, the pull tap 40 is elevated as shown in broken lines ofFIGURE 1 and then pulled so as to rip down the side wall 36 of thealuminum shell structure 20. 'When this has been accomplished with thetab being completely torn through the side Wall 36 and removedtherefrom, the remaining portion of the shell 20 is pivoted open aboutthe hinge point on the side wall 36 provided by the slit 48 in the topwall 34 and from this position, which is also shown in broken lines inFIGURE 1, the remaining portion of the shell 20 is easily removed. It isthen a very simple matter to remove the metallic disc 22 and liner 24 bylifting the same from the mouth of the container 12. One importantadvantage of the detailed arrangement described isthat an aluminum capstructure can be tightly secured onto the mouth of a container,especially contaiiiers having contents filled under pressure. Also,another important advantage is obtained in that a very tight seal can bemaintained acrossthe lip 16 due to the configuration of the lip 16 aswell as the detailed configuration of the bead 18 which restrains theshell in a proper closing position. Byutilizing a bead having thefrustoconical portions 56 and 62 with the lower frusto-conical portionbeing inverted with respect to the upper frustoconical portion, thecurvature .of the frusto-conical portions each about its own single axisassist in tightly re taining the shell 20 in position on the bottle 12,especially when the shell is aluminum. In contrast, if the bead hadmerely a circular configuration in cross-section or if it had thecombination of a curved configuration with a cylindrical configuration,the shell is not retained as securely on the bottle and does not applysufficient pressure to the liner of the closure.

By providing a three piece cap structure with a metallic disc as theintermediate element thereof, the metallic disc having a curvedPeripheral edge with a greater radius curvature than the radius ofcurvature of the curved wall portion between the top and side walls ofthe shell, the assembly of such cap and the application of such cap to abottle further enhances the retention of the cap on the bottle as thecurved peripheral edge of the intermediate metallic disc is furtherdeformed to the shape of the curved portion of the shell, thus, applyingadditional interior forces on the shell which are advantageous to theretention of the shell on the bottle and the provision of greatersealing power of the liner.

While the invention as described in the specification, illustrated inthe drawing and claimed accomplishes all of the objects and advantagesenumerated, it is to be understood that various possible changes ormodifications could be made to the disclosed structure without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the terminology used in thespecification is for the purpose of description and not for limitationas the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved three piece closure for use in packaging carbonatedbeverages, beverages under pressure, and

beer comprising: an aluminum shell structure having a top Wall and acylindrical side wall depending downwardly therefrom and connectedthereto by a curved edge portion, said cylindrical side wall having alower free edge portion capable of being rolled about a head on acontainer mouth, said top wall having an arcuate incision therethroughlarger than a semicircle and a pair of parallel incisions therethroughextending toward and terminating short of the side wall, said parallelincisions providing extensions of the ends of said arcuate incision andtogether With said arcuate incision defining a pull tab lying normallyin the plane of and forming a part of the top wall; a metallic discinserted within said shell and having a curved peripheral edge with aradius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the curvededge portion of said shell structure, said metallic dischaving adiameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the cylindricalside wall; and a disc shaped plastisol sealing liner inserted withinsaid shell structure and covering the metallic disc, said liner having acurved peripheral edge portion and a circular boss spaced inwardlytherefrom and extending in the same direction for making sealingengagement with the lip of a container.

' 2. A closure as claimed in claim 1 in which said top wall is providedwith a radial incision, said radial incison being in the portion of thetop wall outside of the tab and intersecting with and extending fromsaid arcuate incision intermediate its' ends toward and terminatingshort of the cylindrical side wall.

3. A closure as claimed in claim 1 in which said metallic disc isstainless steel having a cross sectional thickness of' about 0.006 inch.

4. A closure as claimed in claim 1 in which said metallic disc isaluminum and is stiffer than said aluminum shell structure, having across sectional thickness of about 0.008 to 0.009 inch.

5. A closureas claimed in claim 1 in which said metallic disc and saidplastisol liner are adhered to each other and to said shell.

6-.- A closure as claimed in claim 1 in which the pull tab defined bythe arcuate and pair of parallel incisions includes a full circularreinforcing rib positioned closely adjacent theperipheral edge portionof the tab around the arcuate incision and extending across an area ofthe tab between the parallel incisions at points where the same join thearcuate incision.

7. A closure as claimed in claim 6 in which the distance between theparallel incisions is less than a diameter of the arcuate incision.

8. An improved three piece closure for use in packaging carbonatedbeverages, beverages under pressure, and beer comprising: an aluminumshell structure having a top wall, a cylindrical side wall dependingdownwardly therefrom and connected thereto by a curved edge portion,said cylindrical wall having a lower free edge portion capable of beingrolled about a head on a container month, said top wall having acontinuous arcuate incision therethrough larger than a semicircle and apair of spaced parallel incisions therethrough extending toward andterminating short of the side wall, said parallel incision providingextensions of the ends of said arcuate incision and together with saidarcuate incision defining a pull tabe lying normally in the plane of andforming part of the top wall, a full circle reinforcing rib provided onthe tab and positioned closely adjacent the peripheral edge portionthereof formed by the arcuate incision and extending across an area ofthe tab between the parallel incisions where the same join the arcuateincision, said top wall further having a radial incision on the portionthereof outwardly of the pull tab and extending toward and terminatingshort of the cylindrical side wall, said radial incision intersectingsaid arcuate incision intermediate its ends; a stainless steel discstififer than said shell structure, said disc being inserted into saidshell structure and having a curved downwardly extending peripheral edgewith a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of thecurved edge portion of said shell structure, said stainless steel discfurther having an overall diameter substantially equal'to the insidediameter of the cylindrical wall of said shell structure; and a discshaped plastisol sealing liner inserted within the shell structure andcovering the stainless steel disc, said plastisol liner having adownwardly curved peripheral edge portion and a circular boss spacedinwardly and extending downwardly therefrom for sealing engagement withthe container lip.

9. A closure as claimed in claim 8 in which said steel disc and saidplastisol liner are adhered to each other and to said shell structure.

10. In combination: a bottle for use in packaging carbonated beverages,beverages under pressure, and beer, said bottle having a neck portion,an outwardly facing lip at the end of said neck portion, and a head onsaid neck portion and circumscribing the same immediately below the lipof the bottle, said lip having an annular planar upwardly facingsurface, said bead having a first curved portion extending from theouter peripheral edge of said annular planar surface of the lip, a firstfrustoconical wall portion extending downwardly and outwardly from saidfirst curved portion and having an angle in the order of 4 with respectto a vertical, a second curved portion extending inwardly from the baseof said frusto-conical wall portion toward the neck portion, a secondand inverted frusto-conical wall portion having its base extending fromsaid second curved portion, said second frusto-conical wall portion ofsaid head having an angle in the order of 15 with respect to ahorizontal; and a closure rolled about the head of said bottle, saidclosure comprising an aluminum shell structure having a top wall and acylindrical side wall depending downwardly and connected thereto by acurved edge portion, said cylindrical wall having a lower free edgeportion rolled about said second curved portion of said head intocontinuous relationship with said second frusto-conical wall portionwith the remaining portion of the cylindrical wall of said closure beingstretched over and contiguous with said first frusto-conical wallportion of said head; and a liner within said shell structure forming aseal with said planar surface of said lip and said first curved portionof said head, said liner including a metallic disc having a downwardlycurved peripheral edge and a diameter substantially equal to thediameter of the cylindrical wall of said shell structure, and adisc-shaped liner element covering said disc and contacting the planarsurface of said lip and the first curved portion of said head, saidmetallic disc having its peripheral edge further curved when said shellstructure is attached to the bottle and stretched about the head on theneck of the bottle.

11. A structure as defined in claim 10 in which said shell structure isprovided with an arcuate incision in its top wall greater than asemi-circle and a pair of spaced parallel incisions extending from theends of the arcuate incision toward and terminating short of thecylindrical wall of the shell, said arcuate incision and said parallelincisions defining a pull tab.

12. A structure as defined in claim 11 in which said shell structurefurther includes a radial incision on the portion of the top walloutwardly of the arcuate incision, said radial incision intersectingsaid arcuate incision at a mid point between its ends and extendingtoward but terminating short of the cylindrical wall of said shell.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 775,651 11/1904Heath 21546.48 1,472,093 10/1923 Shull 215-46 2,544,969 3/ 1951Underwood 215-46 2,731,165 1/1956 Hohl 215- 2,963,189 12/1960 Tourre etal. 215-40 3,033,407 5/1962 Isele-Aregger 215-39 3,047,176 7/1962Wilckens 215-40 3,130,056 4/1964 Taylor et al. a 215-40 FOREIGN PATENTS502,247 11/ 1954 Italy.

75,146 6/1917 Switzerland.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner.

1. AN IMPROVED THREE PIECE CLOSURE FOR USE IN PACKAGING CARBONATEDBEVERAGES, BEVERAGES UNDER PRESSURE, AND BEER COMPRISING: AN ALUMINUMSHELL STRUCTURE HAVING A TOP WALL AND A CYLINDRICAL SIDE WALL DEPENDINGDOWNWARDLY THEREFROM AND CONNECTED THERETO BY A CURVED EDGE PORTION,SAID CYLINDRICAL SIDE WALL HAVING A LOWER FREE EDGE PORTION CAPABLE OFBEING ROLLED ABOUT A BEAD ON A CONTAINER MOUTH, SAID TOP WALL HAVING ANARCUATE INCISION THERETHROUGH LARGER THAN A SEMICIRCLE AND A PAIR OFPARALLEL INCISIONS THERETHROUGH EXTENDING TOWARD AND TERMINATING SHORTOF THE SIDE WALL, SAID PARALLEL INCISIONS PROVIDING EXTENSIONS OF THEENDS OF SAID ARCUATE INCISION AND TOGETHER WITH SAID ARCUATE INCISIONDEFINING A PULL TAB LYING NORMALLY IN THE PLANE OF AND FORMING A PART OFTHE TOP WALL; A METALLIC DISC INSERTED WITHIN SAID SHELL AND HAVING ACURVED PERIPHERAL EDGE WITH A RADIUS OF CURVATURE GREATER THAN THERADIUS OF CURVATURE OF THE CURVED EDGE PORTION OF SAID SHELL STRUCTURE,SAID METALLIC DISC HAVING A DIAMETER SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE INSIDEDIAMETER OF THE CYLINDRICAL SIDE WALL; AND A DISC SHAPED PLASTISOLSEALING LINER INSERTED WITHIN SAID SHELL STRUCTURE AND COVERING THEMETALLIC DISC, SAID LINER HAVING A CURVED PERIPHERAL EDGE PORTION AND ACIRCULAR BOSS SPACED INWARDLY THEREFROM AND EXTENDING IN THE SAMEDIRECTION FOR MAKING SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LIP OF A CONTAINER.